Apple Building Massive Mystery Side Stage for Sept. 9 Media Event

This morning Apple started sending out invitations confirming that there will, indeed, be a media event on September 9. In all likelihood, we'll finally get to see the iPhone 6 and the fabled "iWatch" then. And in sharp contrast to another announcements Apple's made in the past, the company is apparently building a mysterious auxiliary stage.

That stage is reportedly off to the side of the main event at the Flint Center for the Performing Arts. It's not a small thing — according to eyewitness accounts at MacRumors, it measures a full three stories. "Scads" of security personnel are said to protect the thing, and the company is keeping it wrapped under a white barricade. When asked what it was for, the security team simply responded: "We are not at liberty to discuss that due to client wishes."

Here's where things get interesting. Steve Jobs first unveiled the Mac at the Flint Center way back in 1984, and the building itself serves as the main theater for De Anza College, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak's alma mater. It also seats considerably more people that San Francisco's Yerba Buena Center for the Arts. All three facts seem to indicate that Apple expects to be the unveiling to mark a milestone in the company's history.

It's possible that the stage may have something to do with the unveiling of the "iWatch" — perhaps in the form of an athletic demonstration of the health-sensor activities. It also may serve as a demonstration area for iOS 8's HomeKit capabilities. Earlier today Bloomberg also added strength to reports that Apple's long-awaited wearable would be revealed at the event, and Wired added credence to yesterday's report that the iPhone 6 would support NFC payments.

(Also, as a bit of humor? According to Cult of Mac, the Flint Center hasn't updated its website since around the time of the reveal of the iMac.)